Close
  • Latest News
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Video
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Logo
Subscribe
Logo
  • Latest News
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Video
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Subscribe
    Home Cloud
    • Cloud
    • Cybersecurity
    • Networking

    Stratfor Relaunches Site as CEO Apologizes for Data Breach

    Written by

    Fahmida Y. Rashid
    Published January 11, 2012
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      eWEEK content and product recommendations are editorially independent. We may make money when you click on links to our partners. Learn More.

      Stratfor, also known as Strategic Forecasting, is finally back online after a cyber-attack shut down the site last month.

      Stratfor relaunched its newly designed site on Jan. 11, 18 days after a group of individuals claiming to be affiliated with the hacktivist collective Anonymous struck its servers on Dec. 24. The attackers breached Stratfor’s servers and stole information related to its subscribers and also defaced the site. The data, including 75,000 credit card numbers and 860,000 usernames and passwords, were dumped online. Nearly 50,000 of those addresses had a .mil or .gov domain.

      Shortly after the incident, Stratfor said it was going to delay relaunching the site to bring in a team of consultants and experts to address the underlying security issues and secure the environment. It decided to move all credit card management activities to a third-party company to better protect that type of customer data.

      “This was our failure,” George Friedman, CEO of Stratfor, said in a message to subscribers, as reported byThe Hacker News. “I take responsibility. I deeply regret that this occurred and created hardship for our customers and friends.”

      Friedman also revealed that the company had been targeted multiple times and had known for some time about the credit card theft. Friedman was first alerted to the theft in early December, weeks before the attackers publicized the incident on Twitter and Pastebin, he said. He said he didn’t disclose the breach immediately because the FBI said there was an ongoing investigation and asked for cooperation.

      “I felt bound to protect our customers, who quickly had to be informed about the compromise of their privacy. I also felt bound to protect the investigation,” Friedman said. The FBI had informed credit card companies of the breach and had provided a list of compromised cards, so “our customers were therefore protected,” he said, adding, “We were not compelled to undermine the investigation.”

      Stratfor had failed to encrypt credit card data in its database, storing it in cleartext. Analysis of the passwords that had been stolen and dumped revealed some lax security practices, such as not enforcing its own password rules on users when they were creating passwords.

      The theft of emails, Website defacement and destruction of four servers occurred on Christmas Eve as a separate attack, according to Friedman. “This attack was clearly designed to silence us by destroying our records and the website,” he wrote.

      However, Friedman criticized some of the misperceptions that emerged after the attack about what Stratfor does and does not do. There was no distinction made between subscribers, individuals and organizations who purchase publications and clients, who may request customized work, creating the impression that Stratfor received classified intelligence from corporate and government “clients,” Friedman said.

      “We were no longer an organization that analyzed the world for the interested public, but rather a group of incompetents, and conversely, the hub of a global conspiracy,” Friedman said. He said news reports focused on the “incompetents” part while the hacking community focused on the “global conspiracy” part.

      The culprits behind the attack had justified their actions by claiming that Stratfor received classified data from governments. “At the core of our business, we objectively acquire, organize, analyze and distribute information,” Friedman countered.

      “It is interesting that the hacker community is split, with someone claiming to speak for the official Anonymous condemning the hack as an attack on the media, which they don’t sanction and another faction defending it as an attack on the rich and powerful,” Friedman wrote.

      With the relaunch, Stratfor decided to make the site free to all visitors for a limited time.

      However, that seems to have backfired as the Website has been down for most of the day.

      “Due to the high volume of interest in our new website, we are currently encountering a service interruption. We are working with outside experts to increase our capacity to handle the increased traffic to the new website,” according to a message posted at Stratfor.com.

      Fahmida Y. Rashid
      Fahmida Y. Rashid

      Get the Free Newsletter!

      Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis

      Get the Free Newsletter!

      Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Artificial Intelligence

      9 Best AI 3D Generators You Need...

      Sam Rinko - June 25, 2024 0
      AI 3D Generators are powerful tools for many different industries. Discover the best AI 3D Generators, and learn which is best for your specific use case.
      Read more
      Cloud

      RingCentral Expands Its Collaboration Platform

      Zeus Kerravala - November 22, 2023 0
      RingCentral adds AI-enabled contact center and hybrid event products to its suite of collaboration services.
      Read more
      Artificial Intelligence

      8 Best AI Data Analytics Software &...

      Aminu Abdullahi - January 18, 2024 0
      Learn the top AI data analytics software to use. Compare AI data analytics solutions & features to make the best choice for your business.
      Read more
      Latest News

      Zeus Kerravala on Networking: Multicloud, 5G, and...

      James Maguire - December 16, 2022 0
      I spoke with Zeus Kerravala, industry analyst at ZK Research, about the rapid changes in enterprise networking, as tech advances and digital transformation prompt...
      Read more
      Video

      Datadog President Amit Agarwal on Trends in...

      James Maguire - November 11, 2022 0
      I spoke with Amit Agarwal, President of Datadog, about infrastructure observability, from current trends to key challenges to the future of this rapidly growing...
      Read more
      Logo

      eWeek has the latest technology news and analysis, buying guides, and product reviews for IT professionals and technology buyers. The site’s focus is on innovative solutions and covering in-depth technical content. eWeek stays on the cutting edge of technology news and IT trends through interviews and expert analysis. Gain insight from top innovators and thought leaders in the fields of IT, business, enterprise software, startups, and more.

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Advertisers

      Advertise with TechnologyAdvice on eWeek and our other IT-focused platforms.

      Advertise with Us

      Menu

      • About eWeek
      • Subscribe to our Newsletter
      • Latest News

      Our Brands

      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms
      • About
      • Contact
      • Advertise
      • Sitemap
      • California – Do Not Sell My Information

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      © 2024 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.